Things always look better in the evening
by TruIntentions
Summary: It's been a few months since Calem became Champion. He settled down in Lumiose City and often visits Professor Sycamore. Sycamore himself definitely doesn't mind: he's fallen for the younger Pokemon master.


Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or any of its characters

* * *

"I'll see you tomorrow, then."

Professor Sycamore nodded.

"Augustine," the other added, then left the room with a grin.

August sighed, Calem knew he hated that name. Which was probably why he used it every chance he got.

Still, he looked forward to his next visit. The twenty-two year old came over to the lab nearly every day recently, and they always managed to have a good time together, talking about mega evolution or discussing certain theories or even simply chatting about everything and nothing.

When Calem became Champion a few months ago, he'd had slight mixed feelings. Of course, he was incredibly happy that Calem got so strong and managed to beat the Elite Four and Champion. But he also knew it was the norm for Champions to go away for years at a time, to visit other regions, only returning occasionally for short visits or to battle another challenger. To everyone's surprise, Calem had instead decided to settle down right here in Lumiose city, using the prize money to buy an apartment. And since that apartment was only a few minutes away from the lab, Calem came over frequently. A fact that August didn't mind in the least. He'd enjoyed the other's company ever since they first met, one year ago. He liked his wit and confidence, his caring and how—despite all the media-attention and resulting popularity—he hadn't changed one bit.

Since Calem visited so often, he suspected that the feeling was at least slightly mutual. Or so he hoped. Because there was one aspect of his feelings for the younger that he hadn't admitted to anyone. He'd barely even come to terms with it himself.

He'd first noticed it after Calem defeated Lysandre, but had paid it any mind and just wrote it off as a growing feeling of respect and admiration. Once Calem became Champion and shortly after, a frequent visitor at the lab, August had been forced to admit otherwise. He respected him, sure, but he also… liked him. There, he'd said it.

Immediately an image of Calem's mother, Grace, flashed through his mind and he shuddered. He and Grace had kept in touch after Calem had set out on his journey and they had become friends. He could only imagine what she'd do to him if she even suspected in which direction his thoughts and feelings were headed. Nothing good, that was for sure.

He sighed again. Things were so much easier when he was still interested in women. He could ask any of them out without a second thought. Sure, he never had much luck with any of them, but at least he didn't have to worry about any mothers coming to kick his ass for having impure thoughts about their son.

Where Calem was concerned however, he seemed to lose all of his confidence. They'd built up a rather close friendship in the past couple of months and he didn't want to ruin that. What if Calem was disgusted by him and never wanted to see him again? Or more likely—he really couldn't see Calem being so intolerant—if he just politely turned him down and wanted to be _just friends_? In short, he seemed to be worried about every cliché it was possible to be worried about.

Another sigh.

Now he'd given himself a headache. Great.

Giving up on the mountain of paperwork and research papers on the desk before him, Sycamore stood and went to lay down on the couch. Maybe things would look better after a short nap. He snorted. That's likely.

* * *

"Professor." A short silence, then the familiar voice came again, "Hey, professor!" A hand shook his shoulder.

Slowly, August opened his eyes, only to see Calem's face inches above his own, looking down at him worriedly.

"Are you all right? It took forever to wake you up."

"Yeah, fine. I was just a bit tired, I guess. What time is it?"

"About six o'clock." Shit, that was a bit longer than a short nap. "Are you sure you're okay, professor?"

"Fine," August mumbled absently. Why was he calling him 'professor' suddenly? He never called him that anymore unless… He looked around. Ahah. Sophie was fiddling with some of the equipment on the other side of the room.

When August had suggested for Calem to call him by his name—August, not Augustine—Calem had agreed, so long as they were alone. He'd said he didn't want anyone to get any wrong ideas. August hadn't minded. 'Professor' kept that extra bit of distance between them, something he desperately needed in the company of others. He wasn't good at hiding his feelings at the best of times. Luckily, Calem could be very obtuse. But in front of more perceptive people, however, he needed all the help he could get. If Sophie or Serena found out, it wouldn't take long before everyone else knew, too. He didn't know what scenario he was more afraid of: people disapproving or people approving and the constant not-so-subtle hints and winks he'd get whenever he and Calem were in the same room.

So, for now, he decided to keep his feelings firmly under control. Something that was quite challenging at the moment, since Calem's face was still hovering a few inches away from his own. It seemed the younger man still wasn't sure if August was really all right.

Well, maybe he wasn't all right. Maybe he was sick and tired of being unable to think about anything else other than the young Champion sitting next to him right now. Maybe he just wanted to go back to his life before he'd had to worry about all that. Maybe he just wanted for the other to leave him alone.

Sycamore sighed again. He couldn't even lie convincingly to himself.

He loved spending time with Calem and if he could he would spend all day with him, every day. He didn't want to return to his former life, where all he did was work and "fall in love" with another woman every week. And while his mind was fully occupied by the young Pokémon master, and it could be rather distracting, he wouldn't want it any other way.

He looked over at Calem. "I'm really fine. I just had a headache before so I decided to take a nap." He smiled. "Headache's gone now."

Calem smiled back. "That's good news. Because I actually had something to ask you."

August felt his heart skip a beat at those words. A completely ridiculous reaction to perfectly innocent words.

"And what would that be?" he asked in what he hoped was an uninterested tone. Disinterest was obviously not what he was really feeling.

At that moment, Sophie came over. "Professor, but I'll be leaving now. I'll see you in the morning."

"Sure, see you tomorrow." As she closed the door behind her, he turned back to Calem. "You were saying?"

Calem muttered something under his breath.

"What?"

"Nothing. _Augustine_." Calem grinned. August rolled his eyes in response.

"If you have no business here, you can always leave," he said, trying to sound serious. Not that he could hope to fool the younger trainer.

"Sure." Another grin. "No, I actually wanted to ask if you wanted to go out for dinner. I thought we might go to…"

The rest of Calem's sentence went unheard as Sycamore's brain malfunctioned. This situation came dangerously close to the beginning of some of his imaginings.

He forced himself to focus. "Why not. I had no plans for the evening anyway."

* * *

A little while later they were seated in the Sushi High Roller. August wondered how Calem managed to get them in without reservations, until he remembered that he was sitting opposite the current Champion.

They ordered drinks—wine—and received menus. While they were looking those over they chatted about the upcoming research trip Sycamore was planning.

"You know, I've wanted to get out of the city lately anyway. Is it okay if I accompany you on your trip?"

Sycamore almost choked on his drink. Calem and him. Alone. In a tent. Alone. For two weeks. Alone.

He wasn't sure whether that would be heaven or hell. All he knew was that he wasn't going to let this chance go to waste.

"Of course. I'd love to have you. I assume you're used to camping outdoors?" he teased.

"Ha ha. After last year, I'm sure I have more experience than you in that area." Calem's smile softened. "But it will be nice to spend some time together."

August cleared his throat. "Yes. Yes, it will." Now he was hearing undertones that definitely weren't there.

He changed the topic to something he knew would keep him focused. "How's your mother?"

"She's great." Calem frowned. "I would've thought you would know that better than me, though. Don't the two of you keep in touch regularly?"

"Oh, we do. I spoke to her a couple of days ago."

"I see."

August cocked his head. Calem suddenly seemed preoccupied, looking fixedly at his menu.

Let's try another change of topic. "How about Serena and the rest? Have you met up with any of them recently?"

"Not really." Then Calem looked up and smiled. "Actually, I did speak to Serena by phone earlier today."

"Did you now?" he responded, his voice a little curter than he'd intended. At seeing Calem's smile a sudden thought had crossed his mind—was this jealousy never going to end—what if Calem was interested in Serena?

This required some subtle questioning.

"So how is she doing? I haven't heard from her in a while. I sure wish she would come by more often." August waited expectantly, trying to gauge the younger man's reaction.

"Yeah, me too. It's been a while since we met in person. I gather that she doesn't stop by your place a lot, then?"

"No. Not really." He was slow to answer. There was something in Calem's tone of voice that he couldn't quite place. Did this mean that he disliked the idea of Serena getting to close to him? Was he afraid that Serena might be interested in him instead of Calem?

There was a pause in the conversation. Like they were both trying to learn some crucial bit of information from the other and not quite succeeding.

"She's doing fine by the way."

"That's good to hear."

Another pause.

"I should probably tell you something."

"Oh?" Damn, this better not be what he thought it was going to be.

"Yeah, I'm not sure she would like it if I told you already, but…" Crap. Crap. Crap. They were in a relationship. Crap. "Oh well, it will take ages before she gets around to telling you and by then Shauna or Tierno will have spilled the beans anyway, so you might as well hear it from me."

He just wanted for Calem to hurry up and get it over with. Who needed a heart these days?

"She's leaving for Johto next month." Okay. Not what he expected. Unless this was where Calem told him he couldn't live without her and would be leaving with her. "She'll be gone for at least a year, and might even visit other regions after that, or so she told me. I think Shauna is already planning some kind of goodbye-party."

"That's great! It'll be great experience for her." August smiled broadly as a huge weight was lifted from his shoulders. Seemed like he didn't have any competition in Serena after all.

He also couldn't picture Calem being interested in Shauna. Maybe he had a chance… If he took things slow maybe he could eventually convince Calem to give a relationship between them a try, maybe it could really work out between them.

Then August's oh-so-helpful brain decided to pitch in.

 _Who's to say Calem's not interested in anyone right now? Maybe he just hasn't bothered to tell you about her. Maybe the two of you aren't as close as you seem to assume you are. Besides, there's no way he would be interested in another man. Definitely not one almost ten years older than him._

August momentarily felt disgusted with himself. When had he become so insecure? Was he really going to let something as wonderful as his feelings for Calem turn him into an insecure, jealous wreck?

No. He wasn't going to allow that. In fact, he was going to stop being such a coward. Right now. He was going to tell Calem how he felt right this moment. He would not hesitate. He would just come out and say it. Just like that. That was exactly what he was going to do now. He was going to tell Calem how he felt about him and just let the cards fall how they might. Right now. No more waiting. He was going to open his mouth and tell him in three… two… one...

Silence.

He hadn't gotten any farther than the open-his-mouth part. Meaning that his mouth was now hanging open. And now Calem was looking at him expectantly. Great.

 _Come on, Sycamore. Man up. You can do this, Augustine. Just tell him._

He tried again.

Nothing.

"August? What is it?" Calem asked softly.

Hearing Calem's voice saying his name—the one he liked—so gently, was the breaking point.

"I love you."

For the space of a heartbeat, nothing happened. Then Calem eyes widened. And widened some more.

Meanwhile Sycamore was preparing himself mentally. _A bit blunt, but at least you got the message across clearly. Good job. This is good. Calem is a nice person. Things might be awkward at first, but you'll manage to go back to being friends after a while._

Suddenly a short burst of laughter broke the silence.

Okay. Not the reaction he had expected, or hoped for. Still. Nothing to worry about. _Maybe he just thinks you're joking. This is good. Now you can just go on being friends without any awkwardness between you._ But as he thought that, August knew he wouldn't be satisfied until Calem knew exactly what he felt for him. Not now he'd broken through that first barrier that had held him back from confessing his feelings all this time.

"Look, Calem. I know this might be a little difficult to believe, but I really do love you. I'm not joking. I truly care for you, and while I know you don't feel the same way, I simply needed to tell you." He looked down at where his hands were grasped tightly together at the edge of the table.

"I'm sorry I laughed. I didn't mean it like that. It was just so unexpected." _No trace of disgust in his voice. This is good._ "I hadn't expected you to beat me to it."

 _What?_ Startled, August looked up into the eyes of the young Champion. He was smiling, and August's breath caught at the expression on the younger man's face. It was so… so loving. There really wasn't another word for it.

"I'd finally decided to pull myself together and tell you how I feel. I even invited you out for dinner. On a date. Then you go ahead and tell me first."

Did this mean…?

"I love you, too, August."

* * *

A/N: I only really know Sycamore and Calem from the games, so I apologize if they are a little OOC. I've just written them how I pictured them in my head, so yeah...

And personally, I feel the ending might be a little abrupt. I might write a second chapter, or just add a little to the story in the middle/at the end, I'm not sure yet.

Anyways, I hope you liked the story. Let me know what you thought of it. :)


End file.
